[KMKM]

Hi,

Am first time buyer (no chain) and good finances/25% deposit.

Have put in an offer of £250k for a 2 bedroom property in a gated block in Snaresbrook that was listed @ £290k. This has been rejected by the agent.

Think the property is nice but there is a high service charge (£3200 p.a) and kitchen/few other bits need doing.

Know its difficult to say but does an offer like this look 'too low'?
Do agents ever come back to you on a property if an offer has outright been rejected?
Does anyone here have any experience of Snaresbrook as an area and what the property market is like there, especially at the moment

Many thanks

[the_duke_of_hazzard]

What's the rental on such a place?

[barbarossa]

Snaresbrook is a very nice area. You've got quite a lot of choice for your budget, especially in neighbouring - and equally nice - Wanstead.

Leytonstone is just down the road, and has improved in leaps and bounds (two gastropubs!) in the last couple of years. You can still (just about) get a whole house in Leytonstone for 250K.

[worried1]

I'd hold out at £250k. The place is slightly above that £260-£275k range that the vendor only expects to get £250k, but not by much.

The agent is probably advising the vendor that there will be a rush of buyers once the Christmas break is over. This is traditionally how it works, but most people would agree it is unlikely to bethe case in 2012!

[Fancypants]

barbarossa, on 22 December 2011 - 03:02 PM, said:

Snaresbrook is a very nice area. You've got quite a lot of choice for your budget, especially in neighbouring - and equally nice - Wanstead.

Leytonstone is just down the road, and has improved in leaps and bounds (two gastropubs!) in the last couple of years. You can still (just about) get a whole house in Leytonstone for 250K.

can you really? I've been looking in Leyton, and 3beds with gardens in livable condition, not scummily located, are asking toward £300k. I suppose the issue here is really about finding that special seller who will take the bait at £250k. Patience is probably the key.

[barbarossa]

Fancypants - I keep an eye on prices 'cos we're planning to move up North in a year or two. £250k houses are increasingly rare (usually 2 beds) but they're out there. Pushing 300k is more typical these days - been told it's due in part to buyers who've been priced out of Hackney and Tower Hamlets.

[KMKM]

Barbaross,

What about a nice 2bed flat is snares brook. you think 250k is realistic?

tx

[barbarossa]

KMKM - have a look around at what else is available for that money or less. You could be surprised. I have to declare that I can't really give any advice other than that, but good luck.

[idonex]

barbarossa, on 22 December 2011 - 03:02 PM, said:

Snaresbrook is a very nice area. You've got quite a lot of choice for your budget, especially in neighbouring - and equally nice - Wanstead.

Leytonstone is just down the road, and has improved in leaps and bounds (two gastropubs!) in the last couple of years. You can still (just about) get a whole house in Leytonstone for 250K.

[idonex]

Not sure what happened there, stupid iPhone client. Anyway, whilst I agree somewhat with the above regarding Leytonstone I still wouldn't buy there and wish i hadn't. It's still a dump with nothing of any consequence in the centre. There is the Red Lion now, not sure where the 2 nd gastropub is but I doubt the red lion will be there for long given the local clientele still seem to prefer Witherspoons and bullet holes. We moved there because my gf insisted on being in e London still and hackney is now too expensive. If you love pound shops and fried chicken youll love it here.

That being said if your young and aren't relying on local service like schools and don't mind always going out somewhere else for fun then you can get a crap house in the crap areas for 250. Nice house in the nicer bits are still 300-325 although I have noticed prices are dropping which is nice. Unless you just bought here.....and I think they'll probably keep dropping once he Olympic site becomes the worlds biggest council estate

[SHERWICK]

idonex, on 11 January 2012 - 03:19 PM, said:

If you love pound shops and fried chicken youll love it here.

[righttoleech]

SHERWICK, on 11 January 2012 - 07:15 PM, said:

paradise if you like halal chicken

[SHERWICK]

righttoleech, on 11 January 2012 - 08:09 PM, said:

paradise if you like halal chicken

<- dons burkha

[Fancypants]

idonex, on 11 January 2012 - 03:19 PM, said:

Not sure what happened there, stupid iPhone client. Anyway, whilst I agree somewhat with the above regarding Leytonstone I still wouldn't buy there and wish i hadn't. It's still a dump with nothing of any consequence in the centre. There is the Red Lion now, not sure where the 2 nd gastropub is but I doubt the red lion will be there for long given the local clientele still seem to prefer Witherspoons and bullet holes. We moved there because my gf insisted on being in e London still and hackney is now too expensive. If you love pound shops and fried chicken youll love it here.

That being said if your young and aren't relying on local service like schools and don't mind always going out somewhere else for fun then you can get a crap house in the crap areas for 250. Nice house in the nicer bits are still 300-325 although I have noticed prices are dropping which is nice. Unless you just bought here.....and I think they'll probably keep dropping once he Olympic site becomes the worlds biggest council estate

I ain't too snotty about it - I quite like aspects of the area. Certainly, for zone 3 London with such quick access to the City, West End, Canary Wharf, and Epping Forest you won't find anywhere so affordable. Anyway, each to their own, but so far as prices are going I guess it shouldn't be surprising to see two different outlooks from two people with seeming different VIs

Having observed the area very closely for the best part of a year now, I'm pretty certain that prices aren't doing much either way - and there's very little activity. Obviously its horrendously over-priced but where isn't? My own view is that its good value *relative* to the other options.

[barbarossa]

idonex, on 11 January 2012 - 03:19 PM, said:

Not sure what happened there, stupid iPhone client. Anyway, whilst I agree somewhat with the above regarding Leytonstone I still wouldn't buy there and wish i hadn't. It's still a dump with nothing of any consequence in the centre. There is the Red Lion now, not sure where the 2 nd gastropub is but I doubt the red lion will be there for long given the local clientele still seem to prefer Witherspoons and bullet holes. We moved there because my gf insisted on being in e London still and hackney is now too expensive. If you love pound shops and fried chicken youll love it here.

That being said if your young and aren't relying on local service like schools and don't mind always going out somewhere else for fun then you can get a crap house in the crap areas for 250. Nice house in the nicer bits are still 300-325 although I have noticed prices are dropping which is nice. Unless you just bought here.....and I think they'll probably keep dropping once he Olympic site becomes the worlds biggest council estate

The second gastropub is the North Star on Browning Road - although 'gastropub' is probably the wrong term for a traditional boozer. They've just got in a professional chef to compete with the Red Lion, which has been a rip-roaring success according to owners Antic, who consider it their best-ever launch. The Red Lion has a more or less completely ABC1 demographic, all locals who until now had been spending their money in Wanstead or the West End. The Red Lion is just one facet of change - there are others; The Olive, and The Stone Space being another two. The houses in the streets between Cann Hall and Harrow Roads are being smartened up one by one and the council is spending ££££ on the 'public realm' on the High Road and Cann Hall Roads. Basically, what we're seeing here is what happened in Stoke Newington 15 or so years ago. These things take time. The Queen Elizabeth Park will be another huge asset to the area when it opens. But, yes - I do wonder about who will be living in the Athlete's Village.

Having said that, there's barely a shop on the High Road worth visiting at the moment, and the area between the Cathall Estate and Leyton Tube is an absolute toilet.